


Soft Midnight Melody

by hypersugarroxy



Series: APHRPW 2k14 [9]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, M/M, there's a mention of Hungary as well but she doesn't actually show up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-03 05:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4089364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypersugarroxy/pseuds/hypersugarroxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basch knew the arts were Roderich's life. But they were living still as though two separate men, rather than a unit. And nothing seemed to irritate Basch more than Roderich making decisions almost entirely on his own. Especially when they concerned their daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soft Midnight Melody

**  
  
**

Basch swayed back and forth in the rickety old rocking chair, rhythmically bouncing his newly adopted daughter in his arms in time with the seat.

He hated going about the parenting alone. At least with his babysitting experience Roderich had some idea of what he was doing. Now that Roderich had finally landed a part in a local musical showcase, the rehearsals were getting later and later, as they added more people and effects. Which left Basch more time after work trying to figure out the workings of their Erika. Basch looked down at the month-old infant. She wasn’t supposed to be hard to figure out until far later in her life.

It was starting to get late. Basch became simultaneously concerned and irritated. Roderich was always punctual; often (not regularly, not even habitually, but when it ever did occur), Roderich was the one becoming cross with Basch. This was unlike him.

Five minutes, ten minutes...continuous back-and-forth and still Erika wouldn’t sleep. She had quieted down after Basch fed her, but she kept refusing to go to sleep for whatever part of the night she chose. After sixteen she started to get fussy and spit-up when her father brought her to his chest.

Erika wasn’t a difficult baby, it was just that Basch had no idea what he was doing.

Twenty-five minutes: the front door opened and Roderich came in as though nothing had happened. He stopped in front of the sitting room with the chair, staring at Basch holding Erika.

“And you call this what time?” Basch scolded with a scowl, angrily but quietly.

“Don’t get on me about calling you. I already know.” Roderich had a weird way of apologizing without apologizing. Basch never appreciated the idea behind the words, thought it was just another way of being proud. “I ran into someone after the rehearsal, at the bus. We were talking about our need to find a sitter next weekend -”

“We don’t need one,” Basch said adamantly.

“I was rather hoping you would come to see this recital of mine. It’s rather important to me, and I thought that being the case it would be important to you, too.”

“You’re talking about it with strangers on the bus, I don’t need some random guy off the street in here, in my house, with my daughter, unsupervised!”

“She’s not a random stranger, alright?”

“Because you talking to her on the bus makes it-”

“She’s an ex.I haven’t seen her in a while, she moved away before I met you again. It’s why you haven’t met.”

Basch looked down at Erika, eyes still wide open, even after a solid half-hour of rocking.

“She’s not that ex, is she?” The one he always spoke favorably of.

“There’s no need for that jealous tone, Basch; I’m not married to her. I don’t live with her. I didn’t adopt a child with her. However, I’m allowed to be friends with whomever I please. And if I trusted her enough to invite her to watch Erika, you can trust her as well.”

Basch watched Roderich fiddle with an unwound clock on a side table. “Are we ever moving that chair to her room?” Roderich asked. Basch didn’t answer. “Is she asleep yet?”

“No.”

“No?” Roderich walked over and relieved Basch of the baby. He gestured to his husband’s shoulder; Basch swatted his hand away. Roderich started swaying on the spot in a rhythm. No change.

“I’ve been rocking her since you were supposed to be home.”

“You’re not good at this, are you?” Roderich handed Erika back to Basch and gestured for him to follow.

There was an upright piano against one side of the other room. Roderich used to busy himself on there, when bored, when nervous, when peaceful...there was a different tune for each of the pianist’s moods. Since the adoption went through, and they’d been busy with work and the baby and now the recital, Basch only ever heard the same song, softly and repeatedly, just for practice, in the very earliest hours of the morning.

He now took his spot at the bench and started playing. It was a quiet melody, not hitting any extremes of the keyboard but staying right around the middle, leaning toward mid-low. There didn’t appear to be any real reason to the placement of his fingers, but Basch didn’t question it. Roderich might be a bit slow in some areas but he knew what he was doing on this instrument.

He started playing slower after not long. Basch sat on the end of the bench and took up rocking Erika again, her large round eyes finally drooping. Roderich gave them a quick sideways glance and played even softer and slower.

Basch eased into stillness, finding himself falling asleep as well. If it was working on him, it had to have worked on Erika by now. Forcing his eyes open, he looked at her small body, at last resting. Perhaps they could also now.

Roderich stood from the bench, noticing his family nodding off next to him. He gently took Erika into his arms and made his way across the house, keeping his arms as still as possible, to put her in her crib. Basch leaned against the upright and tried to sleep. It had been a long day for him. He was interrupted by tugging on his arm.

“That’s not a bed.” Roderich weakly pulled Basch into a standing position. “I can’t carry you to bed like her.”

“Like her who?” Basch said groggily.

“Don’t start, you well-know who. But since you’ve brought my ex up again, she lives a city over, I can invite her over and you can meet her, check her out, see if you’re alright having her around Erika. Even though my input doesn’t seem to matter, I trust Eri, and I don’t want you to miss this concert. And as much as I like the idea you gave last weekend, before declaring you would stay home and watch her, I don’t think the theatre’s patrons would appreciate us bringing our five-week-old daughter.” Basch made a noise of disgruntled agreement. “I know you like doing for yourself. But we haven’t done anything together for a while, might be good for us. As much as I hate saying it,” Roderich took a small breath, “I miss having you around. There is not a single regret I have about adopting Erika, but I think we need to have time out for ourselves every so often.”

Roderich stopped at the door to their room, effectively blocking Basch out until a decision was made.

“And I have to pay her how much to do this?” he said as though resigned.

“Is that a yes?”

“We’ll see when I meet her.” Basch gently pushed Roderich out of his way.

“Just so you know,” Roderich called to his partner, “this really does mean a lot.”

“Not like I haven’t heard you play before,” Basch groaned irritably, crawling into bed.

Roderich rolled his eyes. Basch was impossible to talk to when he was tired. Maybe something got through to him. Roderich laid down next to him. He’d try again in the morning.

Maybe he’d be more receptive if Roderich took the next feeding.

 

**Author's Note:**

> originally from tumblr. fill for aphrpw 2014.


End file.
